Page 41 of Stand By Me

And that was how they ended up shirtless in the kitchen, leaning against the counter as they finished the rest of the food from earlier in the evening. Clay had put on some sweatpants, but Mario opted for tucking a big towel around his hips, so he was a hell of a distraction. Now that his flush receded, his freckles were once again more pronounced, covering his shoulders and petering out down his chest.

Clay wanted to lick them all at some point soon. Not tonight, since they were both spent, but soon.

Tomorrow, maybe. In the morning, Clay could play the sexiest version of connect the dots ever played.

"Do you need to be somewhere tomorrow?" he asked, putting his empty container away and leaning back on his arms.

Mario gave him a blatant once-over before meeting his gaze. "No."

"Great." At Mario's raised eyebrows, he shrugged. "I was thinking about a long morning in bed."

"Were you," Mario said more than asked, as he put his box in the trash, too. Then he pushed himself away from the counter and moved closer to Clay. "Any plans in particular?" he whispered, nuzzling against Clay's beard.

Clay didn't even try to resist. He hooked a few fingers over the towel knot and pulled Mario closer, pressing his mouth to the line of Mario's jaw once again.

"Yeah," he whispered. "Any objection?"

"Not really, no." Mario put his hands on Clay's hips. "Only that the morning is a long time away from now."

Then he lowered himself onto his knees, pulling Clay's sweatpants down as he went. His towel was now hanging in Clay's grasp.

Okay, so maybe they weren't that spent, after all.

* * *

Clay had forgotten how different it was, waking up with someone else in his bed. Especially someone he still wanted to be there in the morning.

He always woke up quickly—there was no lingering, half-asleep, half-awake stages. He was alert and aware right away, like a light switch. And beingawareof a warm body pressing against him in bed was a pleasure he'd gone without for way too long.

Mario was still asleep, which meant Clay was free to look at him, learning and relearning things.

He took in Mario's exposed shoulder, the dip of his neck, the lines of his face.

Then he noticed a freckle on Mario's left eyelid and, for some reason, that little spot was what made something in Clay's chest tighten and expand before settling down in a new way.

Was that how one realized they'd fallen for someone? A split moment of time between one blink and the next and suddenly he was so drastically changed?

…Wasn't it sad that Clay hadn't known that until now?

Better late than never, at least.

He expected a freakout to come next. They'd barely been on a few dates. They'd spent one night with each other. Mario was Ben's best friend.

All of that should scare Clay, and yet…

It didn't.

Well, that last point did scare him a little bit, but he refused to dwell on it for long. Ben wouldn't want to stay angry at Mario forever, so he'd probably concentrate all his anger on Clay, which, sadly, wasn't anything new.

Besides, if Ben was to be angry at someone, it should be him, anyway. Clay was as used to Ben's hostility as one could get, while Mario didn't deserve to suffer like that.

He was joyful in a way that lighted up any room, and yet he could be present and thoughtful, attentive in a way that could become addictive for Clay in no time.

He already couldn't wait to have Mario's focus back on him again.

As if hearing that, Mario sniffed and stretched before blinking his eyes open.

"Hey," he whispered, offering a smile Clay was helpless against, so he leaned in for a kiss.

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